What Without The Dragon
by ElwynCeltic
Summary: With help from a surprise source, Voldemort is gone, but something dreadful has happened. Hermione is desperate to fix what went wrong. But how can she concentrate when the last person she expected has turned out to help?
1. Awakenings

Author's Note: If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit will be made from this, no copyright infringement is intended.   
  
Please review if you like it!!!!  
  
Spoilers for any Harry Potter book may be included. Don't read if you want to be surprised.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter One  
  
Hermione shook her head, trying to clear her blurred vision. The remnants of the bright light still lingered, slowly fading, and would soon be nothing. She was lying on her side, covered with dirt and dried blood. Her body ached worse than it ever had before. She tried to push herself to a sitting position. Her arm gave out on her twice before she summoned the strength to push herself completely up. "Harry." She called out. Her voice barely reached her own ears. She blinked again, everything finally coming into focus. Her wand lay beside her, luckily still in one piece. She stuck it in her back pocket, where she didn't have to hold it, but where it would be ready in a moment's notice.  
  
"Harry. Ron." She called again, her voice stronger. She spotted Harry lying twenty feet to her right, his back to her, his wand still in his hand stretched out above him. She crawled over to him, wincing every time she placed her right arm back down to pull herself further along. It may have been broke. She didn't know, and right then she didn't care. She reached her fallen friend, and bit her bottom lip. He wasn't moving. "Harry." She said softly, touching his shoulder.  
  
"Oh thank God." She breathed as Harry's chest rose and fell slightly as he took a breath. She pulled her wand back out and pointing it at Harry muttered a healing charm they had learned just last month in class. Nothing happened. She shook her wand and said it again, and once more, nothing. 'It must have gotten broke as well.' She thought laying it beside her. "Harry, wake up, it's over." She said leaning closer and rocking him gently.   
  
Harry's own eyes slowly opened, blinked at the sudden light, and then opened again. "Hermione." He acknowledged her. He tried to sit up, but his injuries were worse than hers, and he could do no more than roll over onto his back. "Did we? Is he?" He asked coughing harshly in between his words.  
  
Hermione nodded, a small tear forming in the corner of her eye. "Yeah, Harry, we did it." She looked over to where not too long ago Lord Voldemort had stood; ready to kill them all. "He's finally gone." She looked back down at her friend, "You did it Harry."  
  
Harry shook his head slightly, "We did it." He corrected her. "Ron, is he?"  
  
Hermione looked around. She saw Ron, sitting against a tree, rubbing his head where a rather larger knot had already formed. "He's okay. I'm going to check on him, okay." She asked, looking back down at him. She brushed his hair back off his forehead, out of his eyes. Her own eyes widened slightly. "Harry, you're scar, it's gone."  
  
Harry reached up and ran his fingers across his now smooth forehead, and a look of confusion crossed his face. "Go check on him, we'll figure out what that means later."  
  
Hermione nodded, and with the help of a nearby tree, was able to pull herself to her feet. She walked slowly, limping; she had apparently sprained her ankle when the great orb of magic had exploded around them. She dropped to the dirt beside Ron. He looked a bit better than Harry but that wasn't saying much. "Are you alright?" She asked, her fingers touching his cheek softly. His shirt was ripped across the middle, and a nasty cut still bleed freely. He shrugged. "Have to say I've had better days." He managed a small smile for her. "You?"  
  
"I'll live." She said sighing, leaning against the tree next to him. She winced and held her arm. "I'm just glad that it's finally over."  
  
"Me too." Ron said softly. "Think they'll let us out of exams?"  
  
Hermione chuckled. "You know, if they did, I wouldn't complain. As long as they let us take them later."  
  
"As much as I hate to say it we couldn't have done it with out him." Ron said, shutting his eyes as he tilted his head back against the trunk of the tree.  
  
Hermione at first thought he was speaking of Harry. Of course he wasn't, they couldn't have done anything without him. No, he was talking about the last person that had shown up in the Forbidden Forest last night. They were all as good as dead. Voldemort already had Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and almost everyone grown on their side. Once he had the adults out of the way, he and his group of Death Eaters had come for Harry. Not about to surrender their friend without a fight, Hermione and Ron hadn't left his side. They fought curse after curse spell after spell, but when it came to them against Voldemort, he was simply to strong for them to defeat.  
  
That was until one last cloaked Death Eater had emerged from the trees behind him. He pulled out his wand. Voldemort smiled; sure victory was his. The Death Eater reached Harry, Hermione and Ron, his wand pointed out past them, joining theirs in aiming at Voldemort. With his free hand, he dropped his hood, and at the same time as the trio, Draco Malfoy said, "Avada Kedavra."  
  
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." She said, her eyes scanning the ground for Draco.  
  
"As much as you hate to admit it? It's a lot easier for you, let me tell you that." Ron pulled his head back down, and looked as well.  
  
"Oh!" Hermione said, finding him. "Draco!" She called out. She rose to her feet, and stumbled across the dirt clearing towards the very still, very pale Slytherin. She heard Ron breathing heavily behind her. They reached Draco together, and exchanged a worried look before kneeling beside him. "Is he?" She whispered as Ron placed his fingers against the blonde boy's neck, searching for a pulse.  
  
"Barely." Ron said back. "I'll take him to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey should still be there, I don't think she went with the Order." Hermione nodded. Ron pointed his wand at Draco and said, "Mobilicorpus." Draco's body was supposed to rise in the air, but nothing happened. Just like earlier with Hermione's wand.  
  
"Yours must be broke too." She said.  
  
"Ms Granger, I believe you may be mistaken." A gentle voice said behind her. Albus Dumbledore stepped into the clearing. "I'm afraid that there is much more to this than a few broken wands."  
  
* * *  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Visitation

Author's Note: If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit will be made from this, no copyright infringement is intended.   
  
Please review if you like it!!!!  
  
Spoilers for any Harry Potter book may be included. Don't read if you want to be surprised.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Hermione had been laying in the hospital bed for two days now. Her ankle had been mended in a matter of hours, but her arm had required more extensive magic to fix properly. She hadn't seen Harry, but Ron was lying in the bed next to her. They had passed the boring wait by trying to figure out what Dumbledore had meant, for he hadn't been to see either of them since the time in the clearing.  
  
They even discussed Draco's sudden change of sides. Again, they both came up short of ideas, and decided to drop that subject until they got a first hand account from Mr. Malfoy himself. Not too long after eating lunch, Madam Pomfrey busied in, and began fidgeting with Hermione's arm. "How does it feel dear?" She asked, bending it in all sorts of different directions.  
  
"A lot better." Hermione answer truthfully, although she suppressed a wince when Madame Pomfrey twisted it a bit to far to the left. "How's Harry?" She asked.  
  
"Oh he's a lot better than to be expected." Madam Pomfrey answered, walking over to Ron. She checked under his bandages, pushed his red hair back and tapped the small but still present lump, and nodded in satisfaction. "And I'm happy to report that you two seem to be in tip top shape." She jotted something down on her clipboard and pulled back the curtain, shielding them from each other. "Go ahead and get dressed and I'll you can go see Harry. Mind you, you can't stay long, but I don't think a quick visit will set him back any."  
  
Hermione smiled, and reached for her clothes sitting on the side table. Someone had brought some of her own clean clothes, and she hoped her other's had been burned. She slipped into her jeans and t-shirt, and was lacing up her shoes when Ron called out to her. "Are you decent?" He asked.  
  
"Yes." She answered back and Ron pulled back the curtain and sat beside her on the bed. He was definitely two shades paler than normal, but other than that Hermione thought he looked okay. His stubborn red hair was spiked up on top of his head, and sticking out in the back. Hermione smiled, suppressing the urge to smooth it down. Ron caught her looking at him and looked back questionly.  
  
"Have I sprouted antlers?" He asked, running his hands over the top of his head.  
  
Hermione laughed, "Of course not, I was just thinking." She said.  
  
"About?"  
  
She started to tell him of her crush. Let him know that she had liked him for quite a few years now, but she stopped. There was no point in embarrassing her self like that. If Ron liked her in return, surely he would have said something by now. 'Perhaps he's swallowing his feelings as much as you are.' She chided her self, tying the other shoe. 'Maybe not,' her cynical side retorted. 'I'll talk to him after we see Harry.' She decided with a nod of her head.   
  
"Ready?" She asked him standing up and straightening her shirt. They stepped out in the hall and looked down at the rows of empty beds. There were only two occupied across from each other at the end of the hall.   
  
Hermione led the way, stopping at the one on the right and peeking in through the curtain. Ron opened the other curtain and looked in at the other bed. Hermione held back a gasp of surprise as her eyes fell upon Draco. He looked no better than he had the other day. His skin was as pale as his hair. His unopened eyes had the darkest circles under them. The top of his head was bandaged, and the whole left side of his head was covered in a purplish bruise. A long scar ran down the other side, from below his cheekbone to his chin.  
  
"He's over here, Hermione." Ron said quietly. He watched as she pulled her head back from the curtain, and blinked. She nodded slightly and joined him beside Harry.  
  
"I was wondering when I'd see you again." Harry said, his eyes lighting up as they came in. "Madame Pomfrey isn't that much fun to talk to." He pulled himself into a sitting position. "Are you two doing alright?" He asked, concerned for his friends. After all, Harry knew that if it weren't for he being their friend, they would never get into the predicaments that they did.  
  
"We're fine." Ron answered. Hermione just stared at the wall, sitting down at the foot of Harry's bed. "Has anyone told you anything?"  
  
"No, nothing." Harry sighed. "I keep expecting Dumbledore to come in with an explanation, but so far the only other visitor I had was Ginny."  
  
"She came to see you and not me?" Ron asked incredulously.   
  
"Well, you don't possess my great personality, or my charming good looks." Harry told him with a smirk.  
  
"Did she even ask about how I was doing?"  
  
Harry pretended to ponder that for moment before shaking his head. "Didn't say a word about you." He reached for his glass of water and took a drink. "She did tell me that all the teachers that had been taken were all returned safely. They were being kept deep in the forbidden forest by a group of Death Eaters. They were too powerful to kill, but not strong enough to get away. They're all okay though."  
  
"Why didn't they just apparate back to the school since they were so close." Ron asked, causing Hermione to sigh. "I know I know, they can't apparate on school grounds. But they still should have been able to do something."  
  
Harry shook his head. "That's all Ginny told me. Oh, and you'll never guess who was one of the Death Eaters they captured was." He paused for the effect. "Lucius Malfoy."  
  
"You're kidding." Hermione gasped. "He was supposed to be in Azkaban."  
  
"Was." Harry pointed out. "Apparently Sirius wasn't the only one who could escape." His eyes clouded up a bit over the mention of his deceased Godfather's name, but he quickly shook it off. "Ginny said that when the Ministry of Magic came to collect them, the dementors preformed the death kiss on him immediately."  
  
"Wow." Hermione whispered, looking over her shoulder at Draco's still closed curtain. As much as she hated Lucius, Draco had helped them in the end, and he was his father. If they had just returned him to Azkaban, that would be one thing, but knowing your father had no soul... Poor Draco...  
  
She opened her eyes to see Harry and Ron staring at her. "Don't tell me you feel sorry for him." Ron asked, his voice accusing.  
  
"No, not for Lucius. I do feel sorry for Draco though." She looked back accusingly. "Come on Harry, you know what it's like to lose a parent. Can you honestly say that Draco deserved to lose one of his?"  
  
"I guess not." Harry admitted. He knew the pain it would bring, but his parents had been good. They had been killed for the wrong reasons, but he supposed Lucius had been killed for the wrong ones too. "It's all Voldemort's fault. If it weren't for him, there would have never been Death Eater's to begin with." Harry said angrily, hitting his palm with his other fist.  
  
"It's alright now, though, Harry. He's gone. For good this time." Ron said patting his friend on the shoulder.  
  
"Ahem." They all turned towards the hall when they heard Madame Pomfrey clear her throat. "I think that this visit has gone on long enough." She said, shooing Ron and Hermione away from the bed. "You two go on up to your common room, and you," She said scolding Harry, "were told not to get yourself so worked up."  
  
"Bye Harry." Hermione said waving back at him before heading to the door. She was a few steps ahead of Ron, and when she stepped on the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room, they immediately shifted and left Ron standing on the landing. "Slowpoke!" She called down to him. The excitement of being out of the hospital wing finally hit her. She ran up the rest of the stairs.  
  
"Password?" The fat lady said, sitting in a chair and fanning herself.  
  
"Unicorn Horn." Hermione answered and climbed in as the portrait swung open. As soon as she entered she was bombarded with students.   
  
"Is it true?"  
  
"Is he-who-must-not-be-named really dead?"  
  
"Where are Ron and Harry?"  
  
"I heard he killed Draco Malfoy."  
  
Hermione held up her hand. "I know you are all curious about what happened." She said in her most authorative voice. "And I am sure that Professor Dumbledore will fill you in as soon as possible. Until then, I'm afraid that I cannot answer any questions." She started towards the stairs to her dormitory. "Except I will tell you this. Draco Malfoy was not killed. He is alive and alone in the hospital wing." She turned on her heel and left the students staring after her.  
  
* * *   
  
To be continued... 


	3. Confessions

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit will be made from this, no copyright infringement is intended.   
  
Spoilers for any Harry Potter book may be included. Don't read if you want to be surprised.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Before Hermione made it to her room and closed the door she heard the questions start back up and knew that Ron had entered the common room. She went directly to her window and looked down at the Hogwarts school grounds. The students were walking about in groups of three or more, talking and gesturing excitedly. She knew of all the commotion Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived had generated, and she could only imagine the talk of Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived-twice. Her eyes scanned out over the dark forbidden forest and were surprised to find a rather large area completely cleared of trees, brush, and basically anything living. The fight with Voldemort had been fierce, but Hermione had no idea that such a large area had been destroyed.   
  
She turned from the window as someone tapped lightly at her door. "Come in." She called, straightening a pile of books on her desk. Of course Hermione was head girl, and having her own quarters was nice. She smiled as Ron came in and remembered to leave the door open behind him. Head girl or not, she wasn't allowed to be in her room alone with a boy with the door closed. Not that anyone would know... 'Hermione!' She scolded herself.   
  
Ron sat down on the windowsill and absent-mindly started flipping through the top book on the stack. "You know I was really scared." He told her, speaking to the book and not facing her.  
  
"Me too." She said pulling out the chair and sitting at the desk beside him.  
  
"I mean, yeah I was scared of facing Voldemort, but I was more afraid of you facing Voldemort." He looked up just in time to see a confused look cross her face. "Not that I thought you would do anything wrong or something like that. I was just afraid that something might happen to you. And well, I'm just glad that nothing did."  
  
Hermione smiled. "Well, I'm glad that nothing too bad happened to any of us either." Was this it? Was Ron actually going to admit that he liked her? "Especially you." Ron broke his gaze away from hers and stared back down at the book. His face flushed to the same color of his hair within seconds. She noticed then that he had a scar behind his ear. A small one, nothing compared to the one that now marred Draco's face.  
  
"Um," Ron cleared his throat, closing the book with a thud. "Well, the real reason I came up here is because of Harry."  
  
"Harry?" Hermione asked taken aback. Surely he wasn't here to ask her out for Harry! Not that she hadn't thought about a relationship with him, but that was ancient history. She and Harry could never be anything more than best friends. That and Ron's sister had confided in Hermione that she was after Harry herself.  
  
"Yeah, he, uh, told me that if I didn't come up here and tell you how I really felt he was going to cast Rictusempra on me." He moved his hand off of the book and laid it gently on top of hers. Hermione looked at their hands somewhat surprised. Sure she had waited seven years for this, but somehow it still managed to make her heart jump into her throat. "I... I really like you Hermione." He took a deep breath and the rest came out in a rush. "And I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend."  
  
Hermione swallowed, but her heart still beat loudly in her ears. "I'd really like that." She felt her own cheeks flush, knowing that whatever happened, the relationship between her and Ron had just changed forever.  
  
"You would?" He asked. Seemed her agreeing to the arrangement was the last thing he had expected himself. Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded. "I wasn't really expecting you to say yes. I mean I wanted you to, but I thought that you may-"  
  
"Ron." She interrupted his rambling. "Why don't you just shut up and kiss me." Ron gulped and leaned towards her. Hermione closed her eyes right before Ron's lips pressed against hers. It was nice. Hermione couldn't deny that. She let her lips part as Ron deepened the kiss. It was definitely better than kissing Victor Krum. Unfortunately it lacked the sparks she had always imagined that it would bring. Nice though, she thought again, really nice. She was the one who finally pulled back, breaking the kiss.  
  
"Wow." Ron said sitting back up right. "That was a lot better than I expected."  
  
Hermione arched an eyebrow at him. "Were you expecting me to be a terrible kisser, Weasley?" She asked in a mocking tone.  
  
He shrugged. "Well I know you got your first lesson from Krum…" He trailed off as Hermione swatted him playfully on the arm. "Do you care if I walk you to Dinner later tonight?" He asked standing up from the sill. Hermione stood as well, and walked with him towards the door.  
  
"If I'm your girlfriend, I think it's expected of you." She said kissing him on the cheek before he turned to leave. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Ron stepped down a stair or two backwards. "I'm going to take a nap. All that lying around doing nothing has worn me out." He winked at her and headed down the stairs.  
  
"Boys." Hermione said with a shake of her head. She closed the door and kicked off her shoes. She sat crossed legged on her bed. She wasn't tired in the least, but she didn't feel like venturing out of her room into the sea of questions alone. Someone had brought her wand to her room, and laid it on the bedside table. "Might as well catch up on some light reading." She said aloud to herself. She checked her wand over and found nothing to be wrong with it. She pointed it towards the desk, more specifically the largest book on it. "Accio." The book didn't move. "Accio." She repeated, giving her wand a little shake. "ACCIO." Nothing.   
  
She climbed to her knees. "Wingardium Leviosa. Mobilarbus." She tried every possible spell she knew, but the book didn't move at all. She dropped her wand on the bed and went back to the desk. She grabbed the book and yanked it upwards with such force she stumbled back against the bed. "It wasn't attached to the desk." She said to herself in wonder. She tossed it very un-Hermione and carelessly to the floor and grabbed her wand. She turned it over and over in her hands, and again found no sign of damage.   
  
"What is going on?" She asked the empty air, her voice shaking.  
  
* * *   
  
To be continued  
  
A/N: I know the chapters seem kind of short, but there is a reason. I am a mother of a very active five year old, and a two-year-old little boy who needs constant attention. I write when I can and update as soon as I get to s stopping point. So forgive me for all the chapters, but I want to update quickly, without adding the confusion of adding to each chapter.   
  
Also, Accio is a summoning charm. Wingardium Leviosa is a spell to make things fly. Mobilarbus is a spell to make an object move. Rictusempra is a tickling charm. All are listed in one Harry Potter book or another.  
  
I hope you like it so far!! Please review if you do. Nothing better than finding a review alert when you open your email!!! And I hope to have more up tomorrow!! 


	4. Explanations

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit will be made from this, no copyright infringement is intended.   
  
Spoilers for any Harry Potter book may be included. Don't read if you want to be surprised.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Hermione went down her stairs, and through the common room to the other side within seconds. She grabbed the door handle and pushed open Ron's door. She looked around the room, and took a sharp intake of breath when she found him. He had obviously just taken off his shirt. He held it in his hands, and looked at her from over his shoulder. "I guess I should have knocked." She said trying to shake off her embarrassment. The last few years of vigorous Quidditch training had done him justice.   
  
Ron shrugged, tossing the shirt across a nearby chair. "S'alright." He told her sitting on the edge of the bed. He rested his elbows on his knees, and watched her fidgeting. He allowed himself a small smile, as Hermione tried to look everywhere but at him. Apparently he made her as nervous as she made him, because she wasn't succeeding.   
  
'Oh, come on, Granger.' She twisted her fingers together, staring at the Quidditch poster hanging on the wall. Her eyes cut over to Ron's chest, then his jeans, back to his chest, and then to his face. He was watching her, and that made her twice as nervous. For a few seconds she had forgotten what had made her storm across the common room to see him. "Magic." She blurted out.  
  
Ron cocked an eyebrow at her. "Magic?" He asked. Was Hermione losing it?  
  
She finally found her bearings and sat next to him on the bed, where she could not look so obvious about not looking at him. "My wand isn't working." She told him, handing hers to him. "I've looked it over and over, there isn't so much as a scratch on it, but it won't do anything."  
  
Ron took the wand from her and examined it end to end. "It looks okay." He said, pointing it away from them. "Lumos." The end of the wand, which was supposed to emit light, stayed dark. "That's odd." He said, doing exactly what Hermione had done, shaking it then repeating the spell.  
  
"Have you tried yours?" Hermione asked, the seriousness of the magical situation allowing her to look at Ron without her nerves jumping out of her skin.   
  
"I haven't seen the need to." Ron admitted, he leaned across Hermione and picked his own wand up off the nightstand. "Lumos." He repeated, and just like Hermione's, nothing happened. "If this had been my old wand, this wouldn't be surprising." He said, scratching the top of his head with the tip of the wand. "But Fred and George bought this one for me with money from the shop. Just this Christmas, actually, isn't more than a few weeks old."  
  
"Have you ever heard of a wand losing it's magical power?" Hermione asked, standing back up and pacing across the floor in front of him. "I guess if the core was removed, it wouldn't work, but they obviously still have those. The only other time a wand would malfunction would be if it was broken, but again, that isn't the case here. Do you think that the battle with Voldemort caused this?" She asked Ron, then shook her head, answering her own question. "That must be it. Come on, then, let's go talk to Dumbledore." She stopped, and with her hands on her hips waited impatiently for him to come.  
  
Ron just sighed, and pulled his shirt back over his head. Whether he had agreed or not, Hermione had made up her mind that he was going. Girlfriend or not, Hermione would always be a bit bossy. Not that he would ever tell her that. He stuck his wand in his back pocket and reluctantly following her. His nap would just have to wait.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Raspberry Sorbet." Hermione told the large Phoenix statue. It slowly creaked open, and she and Ron stepped onto the rising spiral staircase. "Professor Dumbledore." Hermione called finding the room empty. Ron walked over to Fawkes who squawked a cheerful greeting.  
  
"Hello my dear." One of the portraits greeted Hermione, bowing deeply at the waist. "The Professor said to make yourself comfortable. He was checking on some important business and would be with you shortly." Hermione nodded and sat in one of the plush chairs situated in front of Dumbledore's desk.  
  
"Wow." Ron said peering in at a glass jar sitting on one of the bookshelves. "I never knew that he had one of those." He reached for the jar but stopped when Hermione scolded him.  
  
"Don't touch anything Ron!"  
  
"Buggers, Hermione, I wasn't really going to touch it." He lied sitting in the chair next to her.  
  
"Greetings." Dumbledore said coming into the round office area from behind a bookshelf on the other side. "I wasn't expecting you until a bit later, but now is just as nice."  
  
"We can come back later if you want." Hermione said starting to rise from the chair.   
  
Dumbledore dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. "Nonsense." He opened a tin sitting on his desk and held it out towards them. "Lemon drop?" When the pair both shook their heads, he took one for himself and shut it back. "I take it you've realized that you can no longer perform magic, is that correct?"  
  
Hermione nodded laying her wand on the desk in front of them. "I've checked it over and over, and Ron's looked at it too, but we can't find anything wrong with it."  
  
"And you've had the same problem, yes, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore more confirmed rather than asked. Ron nodded his head. "Follow me." Dumbledore said circling around and entering the spiral staircase. "Come now, to Potter's bedside, no need for me to have to explain it twice."  
  
Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, then followed him back to the hospital wing.  
  
"Ah Mr. Potter, you are looking quite improved." Dumbledore said in greeting as they entered Harry's 'room'. Hermione's eyes cut over towards Draco's across the hall. His curtain hadn't been moved since she had peeked in at him earlier. She could just see his profile as her step faltered. He hadn't moved either. "Careful, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said catching her arm to keep her from crashing against the bedpost.  
  
"Sorry." She mumbled straightening herself up.  
  
"I have some bad news I'm afraid." Dumbledore said sitting in the chair nearest to the head of Harry's bed.  
  
"Voldemort's not still alive is he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.  
  
"No, no, we'll never have to worry about him again. I'm afraid to say another may eventually try to take his place, but we shall not worry about that now. Since you are still under Madame Pomfrey's care, Harry, you have yet to learn what your friends have discovered."  
  
Harry looked at his friends curiously. "You haven't been gone from here an hour." He said.   
  
"It didn't take but a second to realize something was wrong." Hermione said. "Something has happened to out wands. They don't work." She shrugged when Harry cocked an eyebrow in question. "Mine, nor Ron's."  
  
Dumbledore reached into his robes and produced Harry's wand, and held it out to him. "I've kept yours for safe keeping. I am positive that it will have the same reaction as your friends. I know you well, Harry, go ahead, you won't believe us until you try."  
  
Harry held his wand out straight and pointed it at the curtains. "Velum Pateo." The Curtain surrounding his bed was supposed to open, but it didn't move.  
  
"What's wrong with them?" Ron asked Dumbledore, ready for an explanation.  
  
"Patience is not a virtue that comes easy to young men, I know that from my own youth." Dumbledore settled back into the chair and placed the tips of his fingers together in thought. "What most people do not know, and what those who do know have a hard time understanding is the difference in good and evil. In every good thing, there is a small amount of evil. In every evil, there is a small amount of good." He held up a hand silencing Hermione before she interrupted. She bit her tongue and sat back. "In the case of the most evil you know, Voldemort, this is also evident. He used his powers to kill, to hurt, without remorse. As evil as he seemed, deep inside, Voldemort sensed that what he was doing was for the good of wizard kind. We all know he was wrong, but he did not.  
  
"With goodness, it's a bit harder to see the evil. Most of the time, what little evil is there, we block out, refusing to see it. Whenever you eat a nice turkey leg, you think of only the taste and enjoyment of it. You don't think of the turkey's death. The same with magic. You cast a spell and there is a bit of evil in even the greatest magic. Without it, the line between of good and evil is thrown off balance, and there could be unseen repercussions. Here at the school, we have a seeming embodiment of each. Harry Potter, you have done nothing but try to right the wrongdoings. Yet, you break rules to do so. You were willing to give up your life to save your friends. You are a true Gryffindor. You were able to obtain his sword, and Fawkes saw you were worthy of his help. Who could be more good?  
  
"Then you have Draco Malfoy. Slytherin, arrogant, and he would do anything to succeed in the end. He has belittled people who he sees as below him. He planned on joining his father in Voldemort's death eaters, wanting to rid the world of muggleborn wizards and witches. Most of our Hogwarts students would label him as evil. Yet in the end, he realized the error of his ways. He has redeemed his self by joining sides with you to defeat Voldemort in the end."  
  
"So what does all this mean?" Hermione asked as Dumbledore stopped for a moment.  
  
"I am afraid that the small amount of good in Voldemort, was so small that the minute amount of evil in you was unable to balance out. That is why the area of the forbidden forest that you were in was leveled out. The opposing forces of magic fought against each other, and when the excess good was finally able to break the evil down the unbalanced magic created an energy backlash. Everything within the energy force had it's magic drawn out in order to balance the forces."  
  
Ron scratched his head again, trying to make some sense of what Dumbledore had just told him. "So if Malfoy hadn't shown up, we would have had less evil, right?" Dumbledore nodded. "So it's his fault our wands don't work?"  
  
"Not necessarily." Hermione said throwing him a sharp look. "If we had less evil we would have had less good."  
  
"That's correct." Dumbledore told her with a small smile. "If Mr. Malfoy hadn't joined you, Voldemort's evil would have over powered you. If it was only your wands, dear children, we would replace them immediately for you, but as I said to you in the forest, there is much more to it than that."  
  
Harry sighed deeply, the realization dawning on him. "It's not our wands that have no magic." He said looking at his friends. "It's us. We don't have any magic in us anymore."  
  
"Draco too?" Hermione asked. He wouldn't know yet either. She shook her head slightly, a Pureblood without magic, if he made it through this he would surely die when he found this out.  
  
Ron's eyes widened and he paled even further. That would be more of a shock for him than Hermione and Harry. They both came from non-magical families. Ron, like Draco, had lived and breathed magic from his birth. Hermione leaned forward. "Excuse me, Professor, but if our magic was unbalanced, what else in that area was affected. I saw most of the creatures running away from us. What could have been there with enough good to balance it out?" From the window of her room, the cleared area had looked large, but if you thought about the amount of magical creatures that could have been inside it, it was really rather small.  
  
"One of your professors was able to break free from the Death Eaters. The person was almost to you when the backlash occurred. It does seem that they are suffering the same fate as you."  
  
"Which teacher was it?" Ron asked.  
  
"Isn't it obvious, Ron?" Hermione asked, her eyes tearing up as she looked at Hogwart's Headmaster. "So, Professor Dumbledore, how do the five of us get our magic back?"  
  
Dumbledore shook his head with great sadness. "That, my children, I have yet to figure out."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
To Be Continued  
  
A/N: Velum Pateo is Latin for Curtain Open. It's not in any of the Harry Potter books. Hee, hee, I made it up, so don't think that your wands are broken if the spell doesn't work!! Again, please review if you like!!!!!  
  
This Chapter was revised February 22, 2004 thanks to niftylicious!! pointing out my Thanksgiving slip. That is the only part that was changed, everything else is the same. 


	5. Eavesdropping

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit will be made from this, no copyright infringement is intended.   
  
Spoilers for any Harry Potter book may be included. Don't read if you want to be surprised.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Hermione lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was, for only the time being she hoped, no longer a witch. It was nothing she hadn't dealt with before. She was muggle born; she hadn't practiced magic at all before coming to Hogwarts. But to have it suddenly taken away was frightening. Give the kid a lick of icing, then take away the cake, it wasn't fair. Dumbledore had instructed them to continue in their classes as usual until a remedy could be brought forth. They were however forbidden to discuss the fact that Dumbledore was without magic as well. He feared that if the news got back to the wrong people, a Voldemort wannabe might take it as the ideal opportunity to try and rise to power. The Ministry of Magic had finally restored their faith in Dumbledore, but without magic, he may be removed from Hogwarts once again. Hermione shuddered as she picture Dolores Umbridge coming back to school.  
  
She pulled the covers up to her chin and rolled over to her side. Ron, Harry, and herself smiled and waved back to her from the picture sitting on her bedside table. No matter what they had been through, they had always found time to be happy together. Now when they had all the time in the world to celebrate, the only thing they ever really had in common had been stripped from them. Hermione pressed her eyes shut, her eyebrows drawn together in frustration. "Damn him." She muttered into her covers. She sighed in frustration and threw the blankets to the side. It was useless; she was too upset to sleep. She slipped her feet into her slippers, and pulled on her bathrobe. She checked the clock on the wall. One thirty in the morning. Everyone would be asleep, and since she was Head Girl, there would be no one up to reprimand her.  
  
She whispered the password to the fat lady and stepped out into the dark corridor. Looking for either Mrs. Norris of Professor Filch, she made her way to the front corridor and slipped outside. She walked slowly to the edge of the lake, her arms wrapped around herself to shield it from the slight chill. She looked out across the calm lake and sighed heavily. The air was cool enough that normally she would cast a warming spell on herself. She dropped to the grass and pulled her knees up inside her robe. She rested her chin on her knees and lost herself in thought.  
  
"You know, it's really not safe to be out here by yourself." Ron said dropping to the ground beside her. His hair was more disheveled than usual, but he had enough sense to pull on his jeans and a sweater before following her.  
  
"We killed the boogie man, remember." She said, giving him a small half smile.  
  
He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned in against him, glad for the heat his body radiated. "That we did, but there are other monsters out there, you know." He laid his cheek against the top of her head.   
  
"The one in the lake is asleep." She murmured, nestling into his embrace.  
  
"Actually I was talking more about Crabbe and Goyle and what not. But with their idol in the infirmary, I'm sure they're too scared to venture out on their own." He kissed the top of her forehead protectively. "I wouldn't put it past them to try something as soon as they find out about our situation."  
  
"Hmm," Hermione said, shutting her eyes briefly, enjoying the closeness, the togetherness, without having to wonder who was watching. "I'm a Gryffindor. I could be the sexiest girl in school and they wouldn't have anything to do with me, thank Merlin."  
  
"Could be?" Ron asked cocking an eyebrow at her. "You definitely have that covered." Give or take Padma and her sister, but Ron wasn't about to mention that fact aloud. He used his finger to tilt her face up so she was facing him. "I just don't want you to hurt anymore than you already have." He whispered.  
  
"Thank you." She replied, closing her eyes as he leaned in close to her. He pressed his lips against hers, and kissed her. She leaned in against him, running her fingers through his hair. He deepened the kiss, pulling her down into the grass beside him. She let the kiss continue, wanting to lose herself in it. But when Ron's hand trailed from her waist to the belt of her robe and started to tug at it, she pulled back with a gasp. "Ron, stop." She sat up and pulled the robe tighter around her. "I'm sorry, I just can't, not here, not now." She climbed to her feet, her face flushed with embarrassment and unexpected warmth.  
  
Ron watched as she ran back to the school, her hand clutching the robe together at her neck the whole time. "No problem." He said picking up a stick lying on the ground beside him. He began drawing abstract figures in the dirt. He pressed to hard and felt the stick snap in two. "I'll just go take a cold shower or something." He waited until she had time to reach her room before standing up and knocking the grass off his pants before he followed.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning Hermione still woke up earlier than every one else. She dressed quickly, wanting to avoid Ron, and went to visit Harry. She walked slowly to his bed, hoping that even though the curtains were still closed around his bed, he was already awake. As she got closer she heard him talking, and when his visitor spoke up, she knew Ron was already in there with him. "I think Madame Pomfrey's coming." Ron said, hearing Hermione's footsteps. Her uncomfortability from the night before flared up, and she knew she wasn't ready to face him so soon.  
  
She looked around, and quickly stepped into the curtains across from Harry's bed. She steadied them quickly, and peered out through the small crack. Sure enough, Ron stuck his head out and looked down the hall. "Guess she must have forgotten the extra long needle."  
  
"Ha ha." Harry replied sarcastically. "No, go ahead and leave it open." He said as Ron started to close it back. Hermione sighed and backed away from the curtain.   
  
'Fine mess you've got yourself into now, Granger.' She muttered under her breath. She couldn't go out now and face them; they'd wonder why she hid in the first place. She jumped as her leg brushed against the soft sheet of the bed behind her. She turned around and looked down at Draco's still form. Now she knew she'd have to wait until they couldn't see her. How else she going to explain why she hiding from them with Draco. She sat down in the chair beside Draco's bed and looked at him, really looked at him.  
  
His chest rose and fell in a slow but steady rhythm. His eyelids fluttered every so often as if he was just in the middle of a dream. His hands were in a different position than when she had last peeked in at him, but from the look of him, she gathered he hadn't moved him. It scared her, looking at him. Granted she had at one point or another wished terrible things upon him, but to see Draco Malfoy in such a fragile condition was unnerving. He looked like a different person, as if he was his Draco's cousin who bore a strange resemblance, but you knew that they were not one in the same. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned over and tucked a strand of his pale blonde hair behind his ear.  
  
She pulled her hand back and interlaced them together in her lap. She could hear Harry and Ron carrying on their conversation on across the empty hall, and from the sound of it, it would be awhile before they were done. She settled back in the chair and closed her eyes. She would just have to wait them out.  
  
She never dozed off, but leapt in and out of daydreams. She was about to check her watch when the sound of her name met her ears. "So how did things go with Hermione last night?" Harry asked Ron. Curiosity got the best of her. Hermione rose from the chair and inched towards the curtain. She stayed to the side of the crack, but leaned close listening.  
  
"Not very good. She went out before I could get up my nerve."  
  
"She went out?" Harry asked surprised. "I would have never guessed that from her. Thought she would be too afraid of getting caught. Didn't Filch catch her?"  
  
"Nah, she didn't go out until way after midnight. I reckon he was already asleep."  
  
"What were you going to do wait for breakfast?"   
  
"How long did it take you to talk to Cho?" Ron shot back. "And I know you like my sister, and you haven't said anything to her yet either, at least I got up the courage."  
  
Harry laughed. "What were you going to do?" His voice dropped into a fake accent. "You are getting sleepy, very sleepy, now roll over and kiss me. Hey." Hermione guessed Ron had hit him with a pillow from the sound of the muffled thump. Good.  
  
"Anyways." Ron continued. "I followed her out to the lake. She let me kiss her and everything, but when I tried to take it a bit further, she jumped and ran."  
  
"I told you she would, she's not ready to go any further than kissing. You're lucky she didn't curse you right then and there."  
  
"Blimey Harry, at this point in time I would have been glad if she was able to curse me. Besides, you said she wouldn't go all the way. You agreed with me that second base wasn't out of reach. In fact it was you who said that you thought she let Krum go that far, but she was definitely still a virgin."   
  
Hermione felt her cheeks burn. They had actually discussed her sexual experience. Behind her back. She felt her embarrassment turn to anger. It was none of their damn business what she had done with Krum, even if she had done something. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. How could they? Their topic turned to Quidditch and whether or not they would be able to play in the last games. Hermione took a deep breath and turned away from the curtain. Her eyes widened in surprise and she stopped short. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she realized there was nothing to say.  
  
"Hello, Hermione." Draco said softly. The sound barely reached her ears, but she peeked back out the crack to see if Ron and Harry had heard. They hadn't. "You were one of the last people I thought I'd wake up to."  
  
"I- uh," She slipped back into the chair and leaned towards him. "Please Draco, if you have any kindness in you, please don't let them know that I'm here." She felt another tear roll down her face.   
  
Draco's eyes narrowed. "And why not. Are you breaking a covenant with them? Consorting with the enemy?"  
  
"I can't tell you why, just please." She pleaded with him, looking back at the closed curtain. She looked back at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable. "Draco, please."  
  
Draco looked at her for a long moment. "I don't do anything for nothing, you should know that my now."  
  
Hermione sat back and nodded. He hadn't actually agreed, but his voice had dropped lower to avoid being heard. "Yes, I know that." She bit her bottom lip and looked away.  
  
Draco turned his gaze from her as well. He stared at where the curtains met. "As long as you don't forget it."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
To be continued....  
  
A/N I'm not sure, but this one seems to be a bit longer.... I hope.... Thanks to all who have reviewed so far!! I hope to get into some action soon; right now I'm just building some ideas, some details and setting the stage. Lol, I'm just basically letting the story take me where it wants to go. 


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